Cards’ season ends on one-point heartbreaker
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| Newton senior Shamus Baltisberger puts up a 3-pointer in the second quarter of the Cardinals’ 52-51 season-ending loss to Fort Dodge Monday night. Baltisberger led all scorers with 19 points. (Shane Lucas/Daily News) |
It’s been a tough six-game homestand to wrap up the season for the Newton boys basketball team, but nothing was tougher than Monday night’s Class 4A first-round playoff game.
Playing within a point of Fort Dodge nearly all game, the Cardinals let the Dodgers slip away in the closing minutes to take a 52-51 victory and end the Cards’ season with their third one-point loss of the homestand.
“These kinds of games usually even out 50-50, and even if we win half of them, we end up with three or four more wins,” Newton coach Nick Wilkins said. “Our seniors deserve way better than they got this year and I think they’ve earned way better. It’s just a tough way to go out, but we’re definitely going to celebrate this season because it deserves celebrating.”
Newton ran its offense effectively in the first quarter, producing open shot after open shot. Unfortunately, most of those shots just didn’t fall. Senior Scott Nilles and junior Collin Reynolds were all over the offensive glass as well, but multiple bad bounces off the backboard or rim prevented a lot of second-chance points.
“Honestly, we were very pleased with the first half. We had to battle back, but we were getting any shot we wanted,” Wilkins said. “We had five, six, seven shots go all the way down then pop out. You hope to come and hit shots at the beginning of the game, but it just wasn’t one of those nights.”
Trailing by seven going into the second, the Cards made their charge. Nilles opened up the quarter with a putback and a 3-pointer by senior Brian Rose touched off a 9-2 Cardinal run that pulled them back within a point and forced a Dodger timeout.
After a scoreless first quarter, Newton senior Shamus Baltisberger began to heat up late in the second. He have the Cards the lead twice near the end of the half, including after hitting a jumper and a three on back-to-back possessions before Rose got a steal at halfcourt and took it the rest of the way for a 24-23 Newton lead at halftime.
“At the end of the game we just got tired and they got a couple backdoor cuts,” Wilkins said. “We knew that’s what they were going to do and we shut it down for three quarters, and we were just wore out. But, I couldn’t be prouder of how they played.”
“It wasn’t that we weren’t ready to play _ and some of these last few games I thought we weren’t ready to play and that’s why we got down,” Wilkins said. “Tonight we had all guns blazing, we just couldn’t get a couple of shots early and had to battle back.”
Dodger sophomore JC Hatcher went on a run earlier in the second half, which started the back-and-forth slobberknocker the rest of the game would become. After Hatcher dumped in seven points, the Dodgers began to turn up the defensive pressure with a midcourt trap that forced multiple Cardinal turnovers and put Fort Dodge up 37-33 heading into the fourth.
Newton’s seniors were certainly playing like their careers were on the line in the fourth quarter. Two early treys from Baltisberger and one from Rose breathed new life into the team and the home crowd, which was buzzing throughout the quarter. Despite the furious comeback, the Dodgers did what whatever they could to keep the Cards one point down.
The big blow came with 29 seconds remaining with the Cards still down by one. Coming out of a timeout, Newton was bated into a turnover by the Dodger’s trap and sophomore Zach Martinson converted two free throws on the other end after a foul. The Cards then held the ball for a look at a potential game-tying three, which fell short of the basket and into Nilles’ hands for a putback.
“I saw they did that out of their zone, so we worked on it in practice,” Wilkins said of the trap. “The one thing they do really well is disguise it, and they don’t do it every time, so it’s on top of you all the sudden. So if you don’t make a quick decision, they’ve got you right where they want you.”
It was a sudden and unceremonious ending for the Cardinal seniors, who simply gathered up their things and hugged Wilkins on the way out. Although now it’s technically time to start looking towards next season, Wilkins showered his four seniors with praise after their final game.
“I wasn’t here their first three years, but I’ve talked to their coaches so I know those kids have put in their time,” Wilkins said. “I have no doubts that they’ll all be successful in whatever they do after this.”
Fort Dodge 52, Newton 51
Score by quarter
F — 15 8 14 15 — 52
N — 8 14 9 18 — 51
Individual scorers
F —Hatcher 14, Martinson 13, Vaughn 13, Edwards 8, Habben 4
N — Shamus 19, 11, Nilles 10, Bates 5, Clements 4, Miller 2
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